Voters will decide if Springfield Public Schools gets to issue a $220 million bond to replace two century-old middle schools, significantly renovate another school and upgrade safety at every building in the district.
Following the unanimous decision Dec. 13 from the Springfield Public Schools board to put a $220 million school bond choice before voters, a number of wheels soon went into motion. Contracts with architects to develop schematic designs were approved. An owner’s representative was selected to review construction plans and costs should they start to come down the pipeline. And a public communication plan was unveiled.
In the coming months, Springfield area voters will hear from a lot of people connected to the school district about Proposition S, the title of the vote that will determine if the district’s 73-cent tax levy is extended, allowing the district to issue $220 million in bonds. The ballot language approved by the board specifies what projects the bond money would cover:
- Constructing a new Pipkin Middle School and a new Reed Middle School
- Renovating and rebuilding Pershing School, currently a K-8 school
- Constructing and installing storm shelters at six elementary schools and safety and security upgrades at all school facilities
To pass, the measure needs the support of four-sevenths of voters on April 4. The school district is not permitted to lobby voters to support a ballot measure, but it can present information to the public on how the funding would impact the district. Stephen Hall, head of the SPS communication team, told the board that branding for the information campaign will emphasize safer students and stronger schools, “because when you look at the entire district, every facility will be touched by security and safety upgrades if this is approved.”
About $7 million of the bond money is dedicated to installing door access sensors, roof access sensors, upgraded security cameras and alarms and protective glass film on all ground-level windows at schools across Missouri’s largest school district.
And architecture firms will begin developing designs for two of the big-ticket projects — Pipkin and Reed — right away.
Initial project design work to be financed by unspent 2019 bond money
Travis Shaw, the district’s executive director of operations, said savings left over from the 2019 bond project will go toward commissioning three architecture firms to embark on four design projects connected to Proposition S before voters go to the polls.
Buxton Kubik Dodd will receive about $200,000 to develop schematics and designs for two of the six storm shelter gymnasiums linked to Prop S, at Pittman and Watkins elementary schools. Paragon Architecture will receive $319,500 for schematic design on the new Pipkin, and Sapp Design Associates will receive $378,750 for schematic design on the new Reed.
As board member and real estate developer Kelly Byrne pointed out, the schematics would still be a district asset should voters reject the bond decision, because the projects would eventually be put before voters again.
Throughout the design process, the firms will be working with an owner’s representative that the board approved following a round of interviews with Shaw, John Mulford, SPS deputy superintendent, the district’s two building project managers and board members Byrne and Scott Crise.
Navigate Building Solutions will help district keep tabs on project costs, decisions on proposed bond projects
Board member Danielle Kincaid said she wasn’t excited about hiring an owner’s representative to keep tabs on construction projects when the district’s own team of project managers had proven to be good stewards of the 2019 bond money, but she deferred to Byrne and Crise, a project manager with Associated Electric Cooperative, and said she’ll need to see results to justify a continued contract with the district.
Mulford said the representative from St. Louis-based Navigate Building Solutions said as much.
“That was one things in our interview that they said: ‘At the end of the day we've got to show you value or you are never going to use us again,’” Mulford said. “And so really, it's on him to show us it's worth it. And so that's kind of what they're tasked with. I will tell you that I have used Navigate in my previous district. I was extremely skeptical, and they were able to essentially help us catch things through the design phase that otherwise we may not have caught, and also propose alternatives that we as a district and the architect that we were using wasn't thinking of. And so that's kind of where they come in.”
Mulford said the district’s two project managers were also skeptical about bringing in an owner’s representative, but said after the interviews that they could see the value in another set of eyes on the projects.
Byrne said that, at a time when finding construction materials is “crazy” and projects can sit stagnant for months because windows or mechanical equipment or something else is unavailable, an owner’s rep can help address supply issues that would be hard for a district or contractor to know about.
“It's not like they just come in and are babysitting over our shoulders and just pulling money out of the deal and sucking it dry,” he said. “It's not that.”
Included in the board agenda was a sample agreement for how an owner’s representative contract could look for the estimated $59 million Reed construction project. In that sample, Navigate would be paid a fixed fee of $253,968 for pre-construction services.
Maryam Mohammadkhani, the board vice president, said she was happy to see that monthly in-person meetings with the school board were part of the sample agreement. She also sought clarification on when and if the board would be able to provide input on the schematic design work that the architecture firms will do.
“I'm just theorizing maybe there's something we don't like about it,” she said. “Is it too late to make changes?”
Shaw said the schematic designs should be completed in about three months, before voters act. At the end of design development, about six months from now, Shaw said changes would be problematic.
